Collection of Hearts
by Pikuna
Summary: "Ah, those two. In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt." ― Richelle Mead, The Golden Lily. Drabble/Prompt Collection for the ship of my OC Akira and Lea/Axel.
1. Sleeping Time

"There you are. Turned half of the city upside down. Should have known you are here, buried under those books again."

Akira looked up from the book in front of her, to see Lea how he was ascending the stairs to the library of the castle.

"Did something happen?" she asked, but he shook his head right away.

"No, but I haven't seen you all day long."

At that Akira couldn't help but smirk at him. "Missed me?"

Lea mirrored that smirk and shrugged with one shoulder.

"Maybe. But I was more worried. You know that it's night by now, right?" he asked and pointed outside.

Akira looked to one of the big windows behind him and by her expression Lea could guess she really hadn't noticed it.

"You can be lucky that the lights go on by themselves," he sighed and leant against the table besides her. "You're looking cute with your glasses, but reading too much can be bad for the eyes, you know?" He poked her forehead, while chiding her in a playful tone.

As Lea expected, Akira's cheek immediately became red and she swatted his hand away.

"Well, thanks for the concern, but I know my limits very well," she said and then forced herself to look back into her book.

Lea just hummed amused. He never got tired of making and seeing Akira so flustered.

"Watch ya reading there?" he asked then, giving the chance of a topic change. Also he had noticed that it was a rather old book she had there.

She glanced up from the book to him, before she turned to next page.

"This black box the Organization is after...I'm trying to find some information about it."

"What for?"

"It's something that Xehanort wants and everything he wants is potentially dangerous. I would like to know what it is and maybe get a clue where to find it. Better it's in our hands than in the Organization's."

That sounded like a good plan. Even when Lea doubted that Akira would find something remotely useful in these books. As it sounded, not even the Organization had a real idea what the deal was with this box.

Besides he noticed the dark rings slowly forming under Akira's eyes and she just had to hold back a yawn. He assumed she was up here all day and wouldn't think of stopping with her research without some mild persuasion.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow. You better go home or your nose will meet those pages sooner or later."

"Are you my mother or what?" Akira asked slightly annoyed and frowned at him.

"If I have to be," Lea answered and crossed his arms. He looked at her with an expecting expression, but she didn't even think of listening to him and just continued reading.

Lea rolled his eyes. It was always the same, so he didn't even tried to convince her anymore and went straight away for the drastic measures.

"Hey, give that back!" Akira yelled at him, when Lea had taken the book away from her and put it on a higher shelf.

The moment she stood up from her chair to get the book back, Lea acted quickly and swept her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style.

"W-What are you doing?" Akira asked with a voice that was an octave higher than usual and a blush that now covered more than just her cheek.

Amused by this, Lea grinned at her.

"Don't complain, you forced my hand here," he said and started walking out of the library with her.

"Oh, as if. Put me down already!" Akira was trashing in Lea's arm, but he had a firm hold on her and wasn't faced by her movements.

"Sorry, can't do that. It's time for you to hit the sack, if you like it or not."

Akira wiggled a little bit more, before she stopped all together and relaxed in his arms.

"Urgh, fine. Whatever."

At her quick defeat, Lea looked surprised at her.

"Giving up already? You really must be tired."

Her only answer was a grumble.

When they stepped outside, Lea looked up into the night sky. It was deep night by now. And Akira's home was outside of the city, which would be a little march.

He looked back down at Akira, to suggest something, when he caught her finally yawning.

"There, told you it's past your bed time," he said with a fond smile.

Akira's only answer was a weak punch to his chest.

"Think it's better when we go to my place. Don't want to walk all the way to yours and my couch is really comfortable," he then proposed his plan.

For a moment Akira stood silent, before she nodded.

Having her okay, Lea then continued his way down from the castle into the city.

* * *

They didn't talk during the walk. Lea thought that Akira was sulking and kept quiet, not to upset her any more.

But when he entered the city, Akira suddenly mumbled something.

"What was that?" Lea asked, since he hadn't understood it.

Akira had made herself small in his arms and had crossed her own, looking down.

"I said, I'm sorry. That I'm such a handful," she repeated.

Blinking confused, Lea looked down at her, before he let out a quiet laugh.

"Don't worry about it. Yeah, it might be very annoying and it's really not good for your health to always push yourself like that,-" He could see how she became even smaller. "But in the end you just wanna help. You're dedicated and everyone can count you. That's admirable."

"You really think so?" she asked, looking up at him with uncertainty.

"Yep, 100%" he assured her with a wide grin. "Know why I can be so relaxed when problems come up? Because I know, you'll come up with some smart plan that always safes the day."

While he knew that he was exaggerating it a bit with it, Lea didn't care much about it as long as it was lifting up Akira's mood. And it had success.

She chuckled and smiled thankfully at him.

"That's nice from you to say. Thanks Lea."

"My Pleasure. And besides, I get the chance to carry you around like a princess." he added with a cheeky grin, which caused Akira to groan and let her head fall backwards, so it hung over his arm.

"Man, you are so the worst!"

"And still you like me."

"God knows why."

Akira lifted her head again to look at Lea. They starred at each other, before they couldn't hold back and started laughing at their own silliness.

* * *

When they finally arrived at Lea's home, Akira had fallen asleep. Lea just shook his head with a smile and managed it to open the door with not much troubles.

But there was a problem, when he wanted to lay her down on the couch: She had his shirt in a death grip and there was no way to take his cloths of without waking her up. And that he wanted to avoid. So there was only one other option.

" _How high is the chance I'll get a slap as morning greeting_?" he thought while going upstairs, still having Akira in his arms. He doubted that she would actually be angry at him. Mostly embarrassed, even tho they had slept together before. Just not in his bed.

Lea didn't worry about it long, he was also too tired to care for his safety and just wanted to get some shut-eye.

In his room he carefully sat himself and Akira down on his bed and even managed to get both their shoes off.

But when he took off her glasses, he paused.

It was rare for Lea to see Akira's face so calm and peaceful. Most of the time she was thinking and worrying about something, rarely giving herself the chance just to relax.

Absently he brushed a strand of her out of her face, when he suddenly heard a distorted voice coming from the floor.

"Ohhh, isn't that sweet? I think I'm gonna puke."

With a glare Lea looked to the upper of darkness-being, who came out of Akira's shadow that was cast by the moon.

"What do you want Yuzai?" Lea asked in a snarky tone.

"Hey, no need to be so unfriendly. It's just time to get to work for me," they explained while looking at the nonexistent on their wrist. "You know, keeping the girl up all night and telling her how much of a looser she is."

"You still doing that shit?" he growled at them, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

"You still doing that breathing thing?" Yuzai just retorted with a very smug grin.

Lea sighed in frustration. There was no sense in talking with Yuzai, they were far worse in that regard than Akira.

So, to get his point across, he summoned his Keyblade and held it Yuzai under the nose. They instantly tensed up frightened, not only in prospect of the weapon aimed at them, but also because of Lea's cold glare.

"Well, sorry to tell ya, but tonight you have to take the night off. You won't bother her, unless you wanna learn how a burn feels like."

"Man, calm down. No need to overplay it like that," Yuzai said, holding up their hands defensively. But Lea continued to glare at them. "Alright, alright, I'm outta here. You're such a killjoy, you know?"

But before they vanished, Yuzai's eyes went to Akira, who Lea had put his other arm around protectively. They seemed to be delighted by that sight and smirked.

"Well, at least I will have something to tease her with."

With those words they vanished back into the shadows.

Lea watched the shadow for a few seconds, before he let his keyblade disappear and relaxed again.

He had actually hoped that Yuzai would have stopped to haunt Akira like they used to, after all that had happened. However, as they had indicated, it was in their nature and there was not much he could do about it.

Movement from Akira caught his attention. For a second he worried that she would wake up, but it turned out that she only tried to make it herself more comfortable in his lap. Looking down at her Lea could see that she was smiling in her sleep, causing him to smile, too.

Now that everything was okay, the tiredness overcame Lea again. Yawning a last time, he laid down on his bed, carefully taking Akira with him and let her head lay on his arm. She moved again, to cuddle closer to him.

Still smiling, Lea stroked through her hair a few times, before he closed his eyes and joined her in the dream land.


	2. Priority

_12 years before.._

"Where you two are going?"

When Akira and Ilana heard Lea shouting after them, they stopped in their running and turned around to wait for him and Isa to catch up on them.

"Aren't ya supposed to be in the arena right now, winning that junior tournament?" Lea asked, while Isa pointed in the direction they were coming from.

"Because you are walking into the wrong direction."

"I…I know, but…," Akira stuttered and then looked uncertain to the ground.

Lea tilted his head puzzled.

"What's wrong Aki?"

Just half an hour ago she was totally elated to be in the final round and now this.

But Akira kept quiet, so instead Ilana answered.

"Brok has told some of his friends to destroy my garden. Akira wants to go and stop them."

"What?" Lea exclaimed angrily.

"Yes, because I promised I would protect Ilana's garden," Akirainterjected and then bowed slightly in apology."So sorry Lea. I have to skip the final round. My promise is more important."

"But Aki, you trained so hard for it," Ilana said, but Akira looked with a smile at her friend.

"It's okay Ila. I always can try next year."

While Ilana wasn't reassured by this a bit, Isa crossed his arm and shook his head in disbelieve.

"That guy must have no guts, if he uses such a cheap trick to win."

Lea hadn't said anything for a minute now, having a ratherirritated expression on his face. But then he seemed to come to a decision.

"No need to quit anything. Isa and I will look after the garden."

Akira looked up in surprise at him.

"Really?"

"But Lea-"

Ignoring Isa's protest, Lea nodded with a wide grin and beat on his chest.

"'Course. Didn't spent the whole summer training you, just some coward can snatch the victory from you."

Akira beamed at Lea, but then Isa put a hand on his friend's shoulder to get his attention.

"Lea, we have no time for that, remember? Watching her fight alone already set our plans back and this would take way too long."

At those words, Akira's expression became sad again.

Lea on the other hand pretended like he thought about it, but not a moment later he waved Isa's concern away with a smirk.

"Then we do it 'nother day. This is more pressing."

Isa wanted to protest, but Akira was quicker with it.

"It's okay if you have something important to do, too. I don't want to bother you with this."

For a moment Lea stayed silent. He knew that Akira wouldn't be mad at him, if he went with his and Isa's plan, but she surely would be sad. She had looked forward to this tournament and she even got the chance to publicly beat the guys ass, who bullied the other children in the city. No way he could let his friend loose this chance and become sad.

"Aki, listen." When Akira looked up again, Lea had put a hand on head and stroked it gently. "I never want you to think you're anything less than my top priority. You don't bother me and I'm happy to help you out. Got that memorized?"

Akira looked at himamazed, before her face broke into a bright smile and she nodded.

"Good girl," he said with a grin and ruffled her hair, making her giggle."Then hurry up now, the people are waiting for you to give them a good show."

"Okay!" she said with new enthusiasm and started to run back together with Ilana.

Lea looked at Isa, who appeared to be not very pleased with his friend's decision.

Before he could defend himself, Lea heard Akira calling him. Just when he turned around, she tackled him and hugged him around his stomach.

"Thank you Lea, you're the best," she said, smiling up at him.

Flustered by this he scratched his neck. He hadn't counted on that.

"Uh, yeah. That goes without saying." His usual nonchalant attitude broke under this genuine gratitude of hers.

Akira giggled at his reaction and squeezed him one more time, before she let go of him and run back to Ilana.

Still a bit dumbfounded he turned back to Isa, who looked now far more amused than annoyed.

"What?" Lea asked him and tried to act nonchalant again.

Isa only chuckled and shook his head."Nothing. Let's just go, before those rowdies do something to the garden."

That got Lea's cool back and he cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, they should prepare for the wipe-down of their lives."

 _Present..._

Outside of Radiant Garden, Akira hid behind a rock. A giant Heartless, that looked like a spider, was on a destructive rampage and soon would arrive the city, if it wasn't stopped.

'I'm the head of security, why the heck am I hiding right now?' she was beating herself up, but couldn't make her legs move.

"Come on, you can do it," she mumbled to herself, but it didn't really help.

When she was still trying to force herself out of hiding, someone appeared at her side.

"So, where's the fire?" Lea asked with a smirk.

Never before in her life had Akira be so glad to him.

"Oh, thank god you'r here Lea," she breathed in relive and then pointed behind the rock towards the Heartless."I have…well, a little problem there."

Lea peered over her head to see what she meant. When he returned his eyes back to her, he gave her asympathetic smile.

"That explains it. You were never good with spiders."

"Yeah, especially ones that are so big," she agreed, but then looked apologetic."Sorry, for calling you here. I know you wanted to go to Destiny Island with Roxas and Xion."

"Ah, that's alright. We can skip beach day, this is more urgent," he tried to calm her down. He then summoned his Keyblade and stepped out from behind the rock.

"Besides, don't you memorize?" Lea asked her, without looking to her. Akira didn't know what he meant and when she didn't answered, he continued.

"You're still my top priority."

He winked at her, before he charged at the Heartless.

Akira just looked dumbfounded, before she tried to hide her blushing face with a hand.

"Idiot…" she mumbled, but still smiled.


	3. I Know Your Heart

It was in the middle of the night, when something disturbed Akira's sleep.

Rustling, movement, muttering.

' _Must be Lea_ ,' her drowsy mind concluded.

Just when she was about to turn around, Lea jolted up, gasping for air.

His breathing was heavy, which worried Akira. Still she kept quiet for now.

Nightmares were no rare occasion for both of them. While they made a fuss about every little one at the beginning, nowadays they just let the other calm down in peace and then hugged them, to give them comfort.

So Akira was waiting for Lea to lay down again.

But even when his breathing had become normal again, he didn't went back to sleep. Instead he moved around and when Akira looked over her shoulder, she could discern his form against the light of the moon.

He was leaning on the low windowsill of the bedroom window, shoulder slumped and his gaze downcast.

After she sat up, Akira skid over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, to get his attention.

"Lea," she softly said, when he turned to her. There was no need to ask how he was feeling. The tired and lost look in his eyes told enough.

"A very bad one, huh?" Akira asked instead and her other hand rubbed gently his back.

Lea tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn't remotely reach his eyes.

"Ah, well. Had it worse."

He then turned his gaze back to the window. Akira gave him a minute, continuing the rubbing, before she then scrambled to the windowsill and sat on it. With a smile she patted her legs, signaling Lea that he should come over.

At first, he only blinked at her. But without any protest he moved towards her, hugging her waist with one arm and laying his head face-down in her lap. Humming a random melody, Akira started to comb with her fingers through his tousled hair.

They stayed like this for quite some time.

Relieved Akira noticed how Lea relaxed more and more, as she continued her caressing. She thought he had fallen asleep again, when he suddenly moved his head, so that he peered up at her with one eye.

"Thanks…Aki," he murmured, whereupon Akira hummed.

"Don't mention it," she said and then stopped with the combing. "You wanna talk? Or…rather not?"

Lea let out a shaky sigh and his grip around her tightened, before he loosened up again.

"Just…relived Axel's memories…or mine…whatever," he mumbled and hid his face in her lap again with a frustrated sound. "Those nightmares are absolute bullshit. But what it's worse…," he trailed off. However Akira knew what he wanted to say.

"Those memories from Axel still don't feel any different than yours, right?"

He only made an affirmative sound, but that was enough for Akira and she smiled sympathetically at him.

Even after all this time Lea still had his trouble to distinguish himself from Axel. Everyone had said they aren't mad at him for the things his Nobody did and yet the guilt was still nagging at him. Most of the time it was barely there and he could ignore it. But whenever he had those nightmares it came back in full force.

She could understood this very good.

To his luck, Akira would never get tired of telling him her opinion on this.

"Lea, look at me," she gently nudged him. When he did raise his head, she cradled his face in her hands, stroking over his cheeks with her thumbs.

"I love you. I hope you know that," she murmured and gave him the most loving smile.

A bit surprised at her admission Lea blinked confused, before he smiled a true smile for the first time this night.

"I do. Tho it's nice to hear it sometimes."

Akira couldn't help but snort at that. At least he still could tease her.

"Funny," she said with a lopsided smile and gave his nose a quick peck, before she got back to the topic at hand.

"Then let me tell you, that I never could love a guy like Axel. He lied and killed, just to safe his own skin. He only cared for the things he wanted and not how others would feel about it. And _that_ is _not_ you."

Taking a short pause, she pressed her forehead against his and looked him intensely in the eyes, hoping her words would have the desired impact.

"Maybe you're no noble hero like Sora and you don't have to be. You care deeply for your friends and you're always there for them, no matter what it is. You have a good heart Lea, a very good and honest heart. That's what makes you so different from Axel. Even when you started to regrow a heart…it wasn't completely you and so not your fault. You would never harm a person just for your own benefit. I know that,…because I know your heart."

For a moment Lea wasn't able to respond anything to that. He starred at her with wide eyes and Akira was a bit surprised by her words herself. But she just had said what her heart felt and it seemed to be the right words.

"Aki…" Lea said, his voice shaking from emotions. He then grabbed her around the waist and lifted her from the windowsill into lap. His embrace was tight and he tucked his head between her neck and her shoulder.

Akira returned his embrace and stroke over his back with a smile. She heard and felt him sobbing, but it didn't worry her. To cry in the arms of a loved one, letting your feelings out, was the best thing one could do in this situation

And she would hold him all night long, if he needed it.


	4. Cute Blushing

It was a lazy summer afternoon in Radiant Garden.

For today, Akira and Lea had decided to cancel their training and instead relaxing in the garden. For Lea it meant snoozing around and for Akira writing reports.

They were undisturbed for a while, until the stray cats from the area decided that they wanted the attention of those two humans. A few joined Lea had his nap place and one made itself comfortable in his lap.

With a smile Lea scratched that cat behind it's ears, while he looked amused over to Akira, who struggled with keeping the cats off the table with her notes, with not much success.

Sighing in resignation, she took one of the cats in her arms and walked over to Lea, with the rest of the pack hot on her heels.

"Seems the cats don't like to see you work on your day off," Lea commented with a smirk and got an annoyed glare from Akira.

"They should be glad that they're cute," she muttered, but gently pet the cat in she held. It rolled in her arms, so that it now laid on it's back. Akira giggled and started to tickle the cats tummy. In return the cat tried to catch her finger with it's paws.

Lea watched this display with a soft smile.

When Akira noticed him watching her, a slight blush colored her cheeks.

"Why're you looking like that?" she asked, trying to act cool.

"Oh, it's just you look so adorable playing with that cat," he chuckled, giving the cat in his lap his attention for a moment. But he could see with a quick glance, that she was now more blushing.

It wasn't his intention to actively tease or even flirt with her, but she always got so flustered at the simplest nice words he gave her.

Wondering how far he could get her today, he looked up at her again, grinning from one ear to the other.

"And I think it's adorable how easily you blush."

Lea wasn't able to stifle a laugh when Akira's face now turned into a tomato.

"W…well, how else am I supposed to react, when you say stuff like that," she stammered, trying to look more angry than flustered, while referring to all the other times he had given her compliments.

"What stuff?" he asked her nonchalant, acting like he didn't know what she meant. But his smirk told another story.

"You know…all those…those compliments. How else should I handle those?"

"Hmmm, maybe accept them?" he asked cheekily. Akira only grumbled huffishly at that and looked away, busying her with petting the cat in her arms.

Lea hummed amused. She could be such a bullhead sometimes, but he enjoyed playing this little game.

"And if ya think this was all…-" he started to say, lifting the cat from his lap and standing up.

Akira turned around and waited for him to continue, when she noticed that he now stood directly in front of her, leaning down so that their noses were almost touching.

"Be sure I have _much_ more in store for you," Lea murmured, giving her his most charming smile.

Apparently this surprised Akira much more than he had thought, as did the cat who jumped out of her arms. She looked like a deer in the headlights, her eyes open wide. Lea was not able to avoid marveling at their beautiful azure-colors and to get lost in them.

Even the cats around them went quiet and looked up to see what the humans were doing.

They starred at each other for a moment, when a thought started to form in Lea's head.

 _Should I…?_

But before that thought could gain ground, he stepped away from her, smiling to hide the tumult inside him.

 _No, not like this…_

"But if you don't want them, I can stop any time," he then said nonchalant and shrugged with one shoulder.

Blinking rapidly, Akira seemed to get out of her stupor and started to fumble with her hands.

"Ah, well….I…never said you have to stop," she muttered, looking everywhere but at him.

Lea grinned at that, raising an eyebrow. "So, you like it?"

The question was part teasing, but he honestly wanted to know. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable.

He had expected another stuttered answer, but not this:

She stuck her tongue out to him!

The only thing he could do was to laugh at this childish behavior and she also grinned.

Well, that was answer enough for him.


	5. Dresses & Dances

They were both not very fond of parties. Not that they didn't enjoyed to hang out with their friends, it mostly was the dressing up.

But Ilana wanted to throw a party in the newly restored castle of Radiant Garden. It should be a ball to celebrate all the achievements the people had accomplished and give them a good time.

Akira was not able to say no to Ilana, when she asked her to join the party and he couldn't let her suffer through this alone.

And who knew, maybe this night wouldn't be as horrible as they thought?

The party was already in full swing and Lea was waiting in one of the big halls, that was redecorated to serve as ball room. On a stage, several musicians entertained the people and a little bar was built-on in a corner of the room.

Lea was leaning against a wall, opposite to the entrance door, so he could see whenever Akira would appear. While he wasn't the most underdressed person in the room, he had kept it simple with his clothes: A red dress shirt, with rolled up sleeves, a black tie, vest and dress pants.

With him were Xion and Roxas. The girl had the time of her life during this ball, showing him all the dances that Aqua and the others had shown her. Roxas wasn't as enthusiastic as her, but he still had his fun and enjoyed being Xion's dance partner.

The kids also had it kept simple with their clothes: Xion was wearing a lilac colored, knee-length frilly dress, while Roxas was clothed similar to him: beige dress shirt, black dress pants and a red tie.

"You think Akira will still show up?" Roxas asked, when he and Xion took a little break from the dancing.

"Hope so. After all, I'm only here to keep her company," Lea said with a laugh.

"Don't tell me you're also a party pooper," Xion sighed and elaborated when Lea looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "When Aqua showed us some dances, Akira fought it with tooth and nail. She said it was a waste of time."

"Yeah, that sounds like her," he chuckled and then patted Xion on the shoulder. "Don't blame her, she has bad experience with parties and she usually avoids it like the plague."

"I don't get it. This whole ball thing seems to be pretty fun, how can one get bad experience from it," Roxas wondered and Xion nodded at that.

Tilting his head, Lea tried to come up with a short explanation.

"Well, it was just boring for her as kid. Never liked the fancy stuff. Oh, and also the dresses. That's why I guess it takes so long. Probably fighting with Ila, because she doesn't want to wear a dress."

Thoughtful Xion looked down at her own dress. "I think they are nice to wear once in a while…" She then looked back at Lea with a smile. "But I guess Akira isn't the type for that."

Lea nodded at that and grinned: "Yep, bet she'll wear some royal dress up suit like that Terra guy, just out of spite."

The trio laughed at this likely scenario, when the door to the ball room opened. Roxas noticed that first and when he saw who just entered the room, he stopped laughing.

"Well, guess you just lost that bet," he said.

Confused, Lea and Xion followed his line of sight.

It were Akira and Ilana, who had finally arrived.

Ilana wore an elegant, floor length, cream colored silk dress that was adorned with flower embroideries.

But what shocked the three was Akira's attire, which was far off from the prediction that Lea had given: She wore indeed a dress, a black one with dark red, glittering ornaments. It was long sleeved and even covered her neck. The dress went down to her ankles, but was cut open at the sides, up to her tights, to ensure as much moving space as possible.

"She chose a dress after all," Xion said delighted. When she noticed, how Akira looked around searchingly, she waved to get her attention.

As soon as she spotted the trio, Akira walked over to them, Ilana on her coat-tails.

"Hey guys. Sorry that we're so late," Akira apologized.

"It's all her fault," Ilana said, pointing at her friend with a grin, who only rolled her eyes.

"No problem. We started to think you might have made a getaway," Roxas said, while Xion chuckled.

"Nah, we just had a little…disagreement about her choice of clothes," Ilana explained with a smile.

"We thought so. I'm glad you decided to got with the dress. It looks really pretty," Xion said to Akira, who scratched her nose slightly embarrassed.

"Ah, thanks," she answered. Then her eyes went to Lea, who hadn't said a word since the girls had arrived.

Roxas also turned around to his best friend.

"Seems you weren't that far off with-…Hey Lea, you okay?"

While Roxas and Xion got worried about Lea, Akira bit her lips to hide her grin.

Since Lea had laid eyes on Akira, he wasn't able to stop staring at her, looking totally gobsmacked. It partly was due to the fact that he had absolutely not counted on her appearing in an actual dress.

And then one that she looked so stunning in!

When was the last time he actually had been rendered speechless?

Meanwhile, Ilana had tapped Roxas and Xion on their shoulders and whispering something to them. They blinked a bit confused, but nodded.

"Well, we're getting some drinks," Roxas excused them.

"Have fun you two," Xion added and together with Ilana they walked over to the bar.

Their sudden departure seemed to get Lea out of his stupor, as he blinked a few times. He then noticed, that while Akira tried to hide her grin, she fumbled nervously with her hands.

Maybe he should finally say something?

"Man, you look…so beautiful," was the only thing he could come up with in that moment, but it had it's desired effect.

While blushing, there was also a pleasant smile on her face.

"You think so? Not too much?" she asked innocently and did a little spin.

Lea had to gulp at what he saw: Her entire back was free, down to just above her tailbone.

She had done it on purpose, hadn't she? The cheeky grin he could spot on her face told him yes.

Gathering his wits again, he also grinned at her and took one of her hands in his, to pull her closer.

"Don't worry, it's perfect."

Lea's other hand immediately went to her back, his fingers moving up and down her spine, eliciting a purr from her.

"But have to admit, I'm surprised. Thought dresses weren't your thing?"

"They aren't. But once in a while, I want to feel pretty, too. And that dress just spoke to me," she answered, intertwining her fingers with his.

"You're pretty even without the dress, you know?" he murmured and nuzzled his nose against her cheek.

"Charmer," Akira giggled, enjoying the attention immensely. With her free hand, she stroked over his vest.

"Have to say, you don't look so shabby yourself with that outfit."

Lea had to snort at that a bit stood straight again. "Maybe. But I surely feel extremely underdressed compared to you."

"Well,…" She hummed, wandering with her hand over his chest, until she got to the tie and grabbed it to drag his face back down to hers. "I like it."

They smirked at each other, hidden promises in their eyes, when the musicians started to play a faster tune than before. This gave Lea an idea.

"Say, why don't we go the extra mile and do some dancing?"

The playfulness vanished from Akira's face and in her surprise, she let go of his tie and stepped back.

"You serious?"

Nonchalant he shrugged with one shoulder.

"Why not? At least Ila wouldn't nag us for not doing so."

But Akira didn't looked that convinced.

"Lea, I don't know how to dance."

"Neither do I," he just smirked at her.

"So why do you want us to make fools ourselves?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Oh, have a little more faith in us Aki," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Just a bit to show off. Think we're very capable of that."

The look he gave her was a challenging, one he knew she couldn't rest. So after a moment, she budged with a smile.

"Fine. At least I know we won't step on each other's feet."

"That's the spirit," he said with a happy grin.

Lea took Akira's hand back in his and lead her on the dance floor. A few of their friends were surprised to see them there, but Ilana and Kairi clapped delighted at this.

While the first steps of them were a bit uncoordinated, they soon got the hang of it and moved rather elegantly over the floor.

In the end they had so much fun doing it, that they had more than one dance.


	6. Sweet Gesture

It was one of those boring meetings. The topics weren't in her purview, but Akira still had to attend those meetings.

She was almost falling asleep, when suddenly a little paper plane flew against her shoulder and landed on the table besides her.

Confused she turned her head to one of the big windows that were a few feet away from the great table. She was really surprised to see her favorite redhead leaning on the windowsill from outside and waving to her with a big smile.

Holding back the question on how he got there, she just smiled and waved back at Lea. Then he pointed at the little paper plane and signaled her to unfold it.

Just what the heck was he up to now?

But she did as he wanted and unfolded the plane to take a look on the paper.

Upon seeing what was on the paper, Akira had to cover her mouth, so she wouldn't make any loud noises.

If it had been an annoyed groan or an embarrassed squeak she didn't know.

She took a quick glance around, if anybody noticed what was going on, but besides Leon, who blinked a bit confused at her, nobody paid attention to her, so she focused on the paper again.

On it was a badly drawn heart. Nothing special, but so _goddamn cheesy_ . Just the thing he would do to tick her off.

Akira glared at the window, but Lea was just smiling innocently at her, before he gave her a saucy wink. She had to cover her reddening face with a hand, but was also smiling at his silliness. It was obvious he did this to entertain her a bit.

Pulling out her pen, she started to draw her own shaky heart that was intertwining with his. But she didn't stop at that. She drew even more tiny hearts, flowers, little flames and other stuff that came to her mind.

When she finished, she folded the paper back into a plan and after making sure no one was watching her, she threw the plan back to Lea.

He had looked curious, even more so when he got to catch the plane and looked at her drawings. His expression was more than amused and he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, asking what gotten into her.

But Akira just shrugged with an innocent grin and stuck out her tongue at him. Lea laughed silently at that, before he propped his elbow on the windowsill and put his head on his hand, smiling dreamily at Akira. She couldn't help but mirror his posture and expression.

They looked at each like this for a long moment...until Leon nudged Akira to get her attention. Someone had addressed her.

Embarrassed Akira tried to take part into the conversation again.

When she took a second to glance back at the window, Lea had already been gone.

But that was okay. The good mood he had brought with him stayed with her during the rest of the meeting.


	7. Just Forget

How long has it been now?

Days?

Weeks?

It could've been months and he couldn't have told it.

Lea...no. Not Lea anymore.

Axel.

Axel still hadn't got used to this new situation...to have no heart anymore. It was one thing he couldn't accept.

Isa...Saix seemed to have accepted it.

His best friend.

They had been separated and when they had reunited they both had no hearts anymore...and Saix a cross scar on his face. Even tho Axel asked him time after time, he never answered, kept silent.

No witty quips.

No accusation that this whole situation was his fault.

He should've felt guilty, but...he didn't. Only the ghost of what he should feel haunted him.

And something else.

Axel knew what happened to his homeworld. It had been conquered by darkness and took everyone who hadn't been able to escape in time.

It haunted him….had _she_ been able to escape?

His other best friend.

They were sent out on mission, to gather information about other worlds and how to get their hearts back. Everytime he went to a new world, he looked for her. She couldn't have been gone. It was another thing he couldn't accept.

Surely she would have been just like him now, right?

He was told people with a strong heart would end up as a Nobody. And if someone would have a strong heart, it was her.

But she wasn't with the Organization. So he had hope.

Hope that slowly died with every new world he visited and couldn't find any clue about her.

Maybe he should just give up? Accept how things were now?

* * *

Axel looked up at the starry night of yet another new world. It looked really pretty. Yet nothing compared to a sunset in his eyes.

Looking back down, he walked through the streets of the little town. From the signs he had seen so far he could tell that this town was separated into different districts. He also had seen a few people, but always had to hide far away and couldn't catch what they were talking about.

There were also Heartless in this world.

It wasn't his order to fight them, but sometimes they would spot them and so he had no other choice to fight. Something he had liked to do back then. But right now...it was nothing he enjoyed. Because of his new weapons.

After getting rid of another group of shadows, Axel looked at them.

Two Chakrams.

Formerly his beloved frisbee's.

A gift from her.

Shaking his head he took in a deep breath and dispelled the Chakrams.

He really should stop this. It was no use. He won't find her.

In hopes of getting some more information, Axel went back to the first district. It was the most peaceful one and apparently most of the people lived here. There were also a lot of shops where he maybe could eavesdrop a bit.

He went to the shop that had the neon sign _Jewelry_ over it, but before he could reach one of the windows, the door of the shop suddenly flew open.

Not wasting a moment, Axel jumped around the corner of the shop, hiding from anybody who left the shop. It sounded like several people.

"Hey kid, wait!" shouted a man.

When he peeked around the corner, he could see how a child with a red ponytail was running down the stairs and turned right into an alley, followed by an older man with blond hair.

"Leon, stay in the shop!" the man shouted again, this time at a teenage boy with brown hair who stood in the door of the shop.

With a nod he went inside again, but Axel paid him no attention.

That child…

He would recognize that ponytail anywhere.

Was it really her?

Or did his desperate mind play tricks with him?

He had to know.

Following them directly was too risky, so Axel climbed on one of the houses that bordered the alley and run over the roof. When the dead end of the alley came in sight, he also spotted the child and the man. He jumped on a balcony directly above them and hid for the moment, just listening.

"...know it's hard to accept. Trust me, we all feel like you," the man talked in a soothing tone, apparently trying to calm down the child...the girl that was crying.

"I...I don't want to accept it! Not...not everybody can be just...gone!"

"It's not everybody. You've seen how many of us made it."

"But it's nobody I know! So I don't care!"

"Come on kid, you don't really mean that."

"I do mean it! I don't care about anybody! I just want my parents back! I want to see Ilana and Lea again!"

If Axel still had a heart, it would have stopped right now. If her appearance hadn't already told him, this was the last proof he needed.

It was his little friend Akira.

The man with her sighed deeply. His voice became even quieter now. "Look Akira. You told us yourself that you saw what...what happened to your parents and your friend Ilana. And about that Lea guy...well, he is not here. And I doubt he will appear now. The last stragglers came here days ago."

There was no answer from Akira, just her crying that became more bitterly.

A minute passed before the man talked again.

"C'mon, we should head ba-"

"NO!"

"What you mean no?"

"I don't wanna go!"

"But it's cold here, you will get si-"

"I don't' care! Leave me alone!"

The man muttered something under his breath, before speaking up again.

"Fine. Then stay here. When you have calmed down, I'll have a cup of hot cocoa for you."

Axel waited until the man had been gone, before he stood up and looked over the railing of the balcony into the alley.

Down there he could spot Akira, sitting on the ground. Her face was buried against her legs and she had her arms slung around herself. Her whole body shook from all the sobbing she did.

It was heartbreaking to look at.

Grabbing the railing, Axel wanted to jump down to her. Hugging her and showing her that he was alright, that she didn't have to cry.

But...he didn't.

He hesitated.

Would it really be right to go to her? He wasn't...really himself anymore.

His grip on the railing loosed and he took a step back.

How could he hesitate, now, when he finally had found her again and she clearly needed him? Didn't he care about her?

"A friend of yours?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Axel looked besides him.

"X-Xemnas," he stuttered.

The leader of the Nobodies stood before him, looking down into the alley. He said nothing for a minute, making Axel go anxious.

"Your memories are playing tricks on you," Xemnas said then, his eyes wandering to the young Nobody. "The longing you think you are feeling...it's nothing more than an echo from the heart you no longer own."

Trying not to squirm under Xemnas piercing stare, Axel looked away, back again at Akira. Her cries had barely calmed down..

"You want to go to her, right?"

This question drew Axel's attention back to Xemnas. It really was unnerving how well Xemnas could read one. Still he nodded.

"It would not be a wise to show yourself to her. Seeing you like this, surely would break her little heart."

"What...what do you mean?" he asked hesitantly.

But Xemnas didn't answer the question, but stated one of his own.

"Do you actually feel sorry for her?"

What kind of question was that? Of course he did….right?

Axel already opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again.

He knew he should feel sorry for her and he should comfort her. But..he didn't feel it.

Apparently pleased with his silence, Xemnas hummed.

"As I said, whatever you think you are feeling is just an illusion. You have no heart. You are not able to care for her situation. It's meaningless. As would be any word of consolation from you."

"But...I can't just leave her like that," Axel retorted, his fist clenched so tight they trembled. He barely felt it when Xemnas put his hand on his shoulder.

"You will. Pain and sadness are normal parts of the heart. There is no need to ease any of it. Soon enough she will forget it. As she will you."

Axel's eyes widened in shock at those words.

No, she would never forget. She had promised it once.

"And for your own sake, you should forget her, too. There are new priorities you have to follow and she is no part of it." Xemnas said with a slightly threatening undertone to it.

He summoned a portal to the Dark Corridor and shoved the young Nobody to it.

Before he went through it, Axel looked back at the still sobbing Akira. His mind told him not to go. But the rest...He felt no need to risk his existence just to give some empty words to her.

And so he crossed the portal without looking back a second time.

* * *

He was never sent to the world, Traverse Town, again.

Still Axel found himself returning to it every now and then, too strong was this lingering something that told him to go back to Akira.

If Xemnas knew about this, he didn't addressed it.

But Saix knew it and would call him foolish every time he returned from his visits.

Well, if Axel was one thing then it was foolish.

Especially since he never talked to her.

Just like with his first time, he only watched her from a hidden position. And it happened that she was always alone and crying or at least looking miserable.

Still it didn't stirr anything in him. He just watched her shedding tears in her misery and felt nothing about.

It started to annoy him. What was the point of going here, when he did nothing in the end?

Even the voice in his head, the one that always urged him to see her, became more quiet and was replaced by the sense of self-preservation. He really should stop this nonsense, before Xemnas got fed up and turn him into a Dusk for wasting time like this.

On his last visit Akira wasn't crying. She also wasn't alone.

She was training with this teenage boy he barely remembered from his first day here.

The whole scene looked like when they had trained together.

Xemnas had been right.

She had moved on. And soon she would forget him. She got a new friend after all.

For the first time Axel was glad not to feel anything. He just could imagine the stinging pain his heart would cause now.

He should do the same as her and just forget.

* * *

"So how are best friends any different from just plain friends?" Roxas asked and looked expectantly at him, as did Xion.

But Axel was just able to shrug.

"I don't know. I couldn't tell ya, because I don't have any best friends."

At least not anymore.

Things with Saix had been...strained in the last months to put it mildly. Especially after the whole Castle Oblivion thing. He would have been the only one he would have called something like a best friend. There was no one else.

As Axel watched the sunset, the face of a red-haired little girl flashed in front of his eyes.

Who...was that?

But he didn't ponder long on that. Quickly he shoved this vision...this memory away. It was just a burden. Like most of his past.


	8. Warm Up

Patiently Lea waited in front of the law office for Akira.

December was just in its first week, but she had insisted on doing the Christmas shopping already, saying the doesn't want to wait for it until the last minute like half of the people do.

She had asked him, if he would want to do the shopping together, hence why he was waiting in front of her work place. Despite her saying she just needed his opinion on gifts for his side of their friends, he knew it was mostly an excuse for the true reason: to stroll over the Christmas market and have a nice afternoon together.

Lea grinned, looking up at the cloudy sky. So typical from her, not wanting to acknowledge her own romantic streak.

A look on his watch told him that it was already fifteen minutes after the time she had told him to show up. Probably doing overtime hours again.

Just when he was thinking about going in and look for her, the door to the office opened and Akira hurried out. She was in such a rush that she didn't look out for the frozen spots on the stairs. With a yelp she slipped on the last few steps and stumbled down them, right into Lea's arms. Luckily he had seen this coming and was able to catch her.

"Woha, easy there Aki,"Lea said, after he had secured his grip on her arms and checked on her. " You okay?"

"Yeah, just...a bit startled," Akira took in a deep breath and steadied herself, grabbing his sleeves. Lifting her head, she looked apologetic at him. "I'm really sorry Lea. I just...I forgot the time and I tried to get out as quick as possible...Did you have to wait long?"

"Not longer than expected," he smiled reassuringly and after she let go of his sleeves, he patted her head. "Still, I want a cocoa treat as compensation. Deal?"

Relieved that he wasn't angry with her, she sighed and nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, deal."

Humming satisfied, he took another look at his watch.

"At least we don't have to hurry to catch the bus. Will have to take the next anyway now."

"Ugh, next time I'll set the alarm of my phone, maybe then I get out in time," Akira mumbled sheepishly, taking a pair of gloves out of her pocket and put them on.

Lea had to laugh at that. "Yeah, maybe that helps."

When she had put on the gloves, he nudged her hand with his, smiling at her.

"Shall we?"

Without missing a beat she took his hand in hers and nodded with a happy hum.

* * *

On their way to the bus station they chatted about their day and what they planned to get as gifts for their friends.

The air was brisk, far more than it was forecast and it even started to snow.

When they arrived at the roofed bus station, they shook the snow from their heads and shoulders and huddled up together in a corner to be save from the frosty wind.

"Why does it have to become so stormy out of nowhere?" Akira groused, pulling up the collar of her jacket to her ears.

"Ah, you know our luck. Just when we want to go out for a while," Lea answered. He seemed less bothered by the weather than her.

Grumbling under her breath, Akira rubbed her gloved hands together.

He had looked around, but now that his eyes were on her again, he noticed that her teeth were chattering.

"Are you cold?" he asked, just realizing that her jacket wasn't that useful in a winter weather like this.

"Nah, I'm fine. That bit of chilly wind is nothing," she insisted, tho she jittered with every second more.

Lea could only shook his head with a smile. So stubborn.

"Come here," he then said, grabbing her by the waist and pressing her against his side. She was about to protest, when he wrapped his long shawl around the both of them, covering her neck and lower half of her face.

"Better?" he grinned and rubbed his hand up and down her side to make her warm. The question was kind of needless with how she already snuggled into the warm shawl.

He laughed at how adorable she looked and gave her temple a kiss, which caused Akira to make a pleasant sound. When he was about to turn his head, she suddenly pulled down the shawl to give his lips a quick kiss, making him look befuddled at her.

"Thanks Lea," she said, giving him one of her radiant smiles. He hadn't been cold before, but now he certainly was warm.

"No problem sunshine," he murmured with a soft smile.

Humming happily, Akira pulled the shawl back up again and they nuzzled up to each other, barely feeling any of the cold while waiting for their bus.


	9. Caught

**A/N:** This is not canon to my story, but a much sweeter way how things could go, if I wasn't aiming for the drama.

* * *

By now Lea had to do a lot of things to get Akira to take a break from overworking herself. But chasing after her like they were playing tag was new.

It had gone on for fifteen minutes by now and they had run through half the castle, being in the library at present. Given that they were both very quick on their feet, he hadn't come very close to her yet. Only now when they both at to take a breather.

"C'mon Aki, this is getting ridiculous," he called towards the bookshelf she was hiding behind.

"Oh, and that coming from you," she snorted, peeking around the shelf carefully.

"Hey, I'm not the one who acts like a little kid here. Just want you to get some rest, nothing more."

Slowly he walked towards the bookshelf, but he could already hear Akira walking around it.

"And I told you, I want to finish those papers today."

Lea didn't reply to that anymore and only sighed. He knew it was just wasted breath.

They circled the bookshelf a few times, before Akira suddenly burst into a sprint and run down the stairs of the library.

'Here it goes again,' he thought with a roll of his eyes. Instead of running right after her, he jumped over the balustrade, hoping to cut her way off.

Akira yelped in surprise, when Lea indeed landed just in front of her. He didn't waste a second, grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her against the next wall. Maybe a bit harder than he anticipated, but that's what she got for making him chase her like that.

"Got ya!" he exclaimed in a victorious tone.

Letting out a slightly pained oomph, Akira glared up at him.

"Hey, not fair!" she actually pouted at him, making him laugh.

"Didn't know we had any rules set." While he didn't press her against the wall, Lea still had his hands on her shoulder, just in case she wanted to scram again. "And I thought you wanted to finish those papers? Playing tag doesn't seem helping that much."

"Hmpf, maybe. But I surely didn't want to make it to easy for you," she answered with a playful smile.

Lea just shook his head at that. Sometimes he really didn't get her.

"So, I won. You gonna play nice now?" he asked and arched an eyebrow.

Her smile became wider.

"As if!"

She grabbed his arms and was able to push him away from her, taking him by surprise there. But the surprise didn't hold on for long and Lea was able to grab her by the shoulders again, before she could run past him and pinned her against the wall again.

"Not so fast, young lady!" he said, this time not loosing his grip on her.

"Oof, can you stop being so rough?" she complained.

"Can you stop running away?" he just countered.

They glared at each other for a moment, before their faces split into a grin.

"You plan on holding me here all day?" Akira then asked. Lea just shrugged with one shoulder.

"If you stay stubborn, I might have to. Not the break I had in mind for you, but one has to take what they get."

"You had something in mind?" she asked in genuine surprise. Thoughtfully Lea hummed.

"Sure. A relaxing day at the beach, maybe a little walk in the sunset, that kind of thing."

Akira arched an eyebrow at this. "That sounds more like a date than a break."

"Do these things have to be exclusive from each other?" he retorted, giving her a playful smirk.

Of course this made her blush, looking at him with a defiant expression.

"Idiot," she grumbled, but he only chuckled at that.

He liked it when she was in this state of being angry and flustered at the same time. Her eyes always got this special spark then, making them even more beautiful than usual. It was only rivaled by her radiant smile.

'Stop with that,' he chastised himself mentally and lowered his gaze a bit.

Lately it got harder for him to look Akira in the face for a longer time. His heart urged him to show her how he felt about her and he would like nothing more than to follow it. But he told himself again and again that this was not just about him, but also her.

He couldn't be selfish. Not again. Not with this.

And talking about it? He had no idea where to start or how to approach this without feeling like he pressured her into something. So he just gave her hints here and there and waited for her to give him a clear signal. He just hoped he could hold himself back for so long.

While being deep in his thoughts, his gaze had fixated on her mouth. She had bared her teeth before, when he had teased her. But now her jaw had relaxed, her lips slightly parted and breathed evenly.

'I wonder…how it would feel like to kiss her.'

It was a genuinely curious thought.

Lea had never kissed someone before, never really had the chance so far. And with the way he was drawn to her, his curiosity and longing just became stronger with every day.

Would it be soft? How would it taste?

Akira could be rough around the edge, but she still had this certain softness to her. And he bet she would taste sweet. It would be the perfect contrast to her tough mannerism all the time.

"Lea?"

He startled, seeing the movement of her mouth more than he heard her voice.

Dammit, he must have had stared like an idiot!

Loosing his grip on her shoulders and raising his eyes again, he was about to apologize, when he noticed the way she looked at him.

He had seen her in all different states of being embarrassed and flustered, but never like…this.

Looking up at him from under her lashes, cheeks being rosy, she had such an unusual shy look on her face. It was such a cute sight.

Lea's heart pounded more and more the longer he looked at her.

The next seconds felt like he wasn't in control of his body. The words he had repeated in his head prior were tossed overboard and he just acted.

Grabbing her shoulders tighter, he pulled her close, so that they were chest to chest.

Gently, but not waiting for any reaction from her, he leant down to press his mouth against hers in an attempt of a kiss.

He had been right on his money. The bit of taste he could get really was a very sweet one. And her lips were soft. So soft and warm.

It felt so good, it made his heart flutter like crazy.

But…there was no response from her.

Opening his eyes a bit, he could see that she was staring at him with wide eyes.

Right there he realized what he was actually doing. As if stung by an adder, he let go of her and stumbled a few steps back.

"Aki! Im sorry. I…I didn't want to…" Lea tried to apologize, face hot from embarrassment and looking anyway but at her.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' he berated himself. So much for holding himself back.

Out of the corners of his eyes he could see her stepping closer and just a moment later felt how she grabbed his collar.

Turning his head towards her he braced himself for a rant, maybe even a headbutt from her.

He surely didn't expect that she would pull him down to press her lips against his again.

Now it was his turn to not respond and just look dumbfounded at her.

Shouldn't she be…angry?

Feeling and hearing her giggle, he blinked a few times at her, while Akira leant back to look at him with a smile.

"You know, I'm no expert, but…I think it works best when we both do our part," she said in a quiet, but amused voice.

"Uh, sure…" he managed to answer, still being perplexed by her reaction. "But aren't you…aren't you upset that I just did…that?"

"If I would be, do you think I would've yanked you back for another try?" she answered with a lopsided smile, which made him breath out a laugh.

She had a point there.

"You just…caught me by surprise there," she added sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that," he apologized sincerely, glad that she wasn't mad at him. Akira just shrugged her shoulders at that.

"So, you have ten seconds before my brain catches up on what just happened. Wanna finish what you started or not?" she asked him, giving him a challenging smirk.

And that was the last sign he needed to know that really everything was okay.

Not wanting to ruin the mood, Lea refrained from doing any silly expressions or making excited sounds and instead tried to play it cool.

"I'd love to," he said in a husky voice, raising his hand to caress and cup her cheek.

Akira shivered from his words and touch. She let go of his collar and placed her hands on his chest.

Her face was flushed, but unlike other times she didn't glared or broke the eye-contact with him. His heart did a somersault at the shy, but also eager look she gave him.

He wrapped his free arm around her waist to pull her closer, before he leant down to meet her mouth in another try of a kiss.

If Lea had thought that her lips felt soft and warm before, it was nothing compared to now that she kissed back.

They both sighed in relief, causing them to also giggle at the same time and break the kiss again.

Jut for a moment they looked at each other with a wide grin, before they dove in for another kiss.

And another. And another, not being deterred by the clumsiness of their first few tries. If at all, it made this all just more fun.

At one point Akira stroke her hands up Lea's chest to his neck and clasped her arms around it, so that he couldn't pull back from their current embrace. He hummed pleased and deepened the kiss, even dipped her a bit.

They were completely in their own little world. Nothing else existed besides the other and their touch. Absolutely nothing.

"Hey Lea, did you catch her?"

And just like that, their little dream bubble was busted.

Lea couldn't care less if someone was there, but Akira broke the kiss and had the usual embarrassed expression on her face. He sighed, but also smiled at this and brought them back into a straight position.

"Oh, I see. The matter has resolved itself," he heard Ilana's voice speaking again and when he turned his head around, she indeed stood there at the corner to the library exit, ginning from one ear to the other at the sight before her.

"Yeah, everything under control here. Now hop it," he said in a playful tone, making a go away gesture with one hand.

Ilana giggled and winked at them. "Sure, don't want to bother you two lovebirds. See you later~" she lilted and with a goodbye-wave of her hand she vanished around the corner again.

Akira had peeked around Lea to look at Ilana, but now she dropped her head against his chest with a grumble. He couldn't help but laugh at this, but instead of teasing her, she wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose into her hair. He could feel how she immediately relaxed and returned the hug.

His heart wasn't beating as fast as before, but it now spread such a nice warmth through his body, with him holding her like this.

"Say Lea…" Akira suddenly mumbled and he loosed his embrace, so that they could look at each other. She acted a bit coyly, not lifting her eyes and chewing her lips. "Does the offer with the beach day still stand?"

He huffed amused at her bashful behavior. "Sure it does."

"Also the sunset walk?" she asked, now glancing up at him.

Giving her a soft smile, he leant forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "Everything you want, sunshine."

Looking back at her, Lea had to correct himself.

Seeing her happy-flustered was way better than angry-flustered.


	10. Snowball-Fight

"Okay, Team Fire against Team Flower!" Akira cheered and held her hand up. Lea reacted right away and gave her a high five with a very confident grin.

"Let's get this show started!"

Standing a bit afar from the pair, Kairi leant to Ilana and whispered: "Isn't it kinda unfair that they get to team up?"

"Do you want them on different teams?" she answered with a glance and a raised eyebrow to her younger friend, gathering some snow in her hands. "We want to play a game, not starting a war."

Besides them, Belle chuckled. "Well, at least we have the advantage of numbers, isn't that right Chip?"

The young boy nodded enthusiastic. "Yeah, they will stand no chance against us"!

Ilana let out a sigh, but smiled. "Don't count on it actually helping us against those two."

She looked over to Akira and Lea. He gave her some instructions on how to form a good snowball - had he been to a world with snow before? - and she had even started to build a little wall of snow.

The group from Radiant Garden had decided to give the Beast's Castle - could you actually still call it that? - a visit, after Lea had told them that, unlike their own world, there is snow in others when the cold season started. Neither of the girls had ever seen snow before, so they had been very excited to see the white glory for the first time.

Of course, Lea had to mention games you play in the winter, like a snowball fight. Of course Akira was all for it. Kairi and herself only agreed to it, after Chip and Belle had overheard their conversation and wanted to take part in this little game.

Ilana just hoped it would stay a game. One could never know with those two.

* * *

Several minutes later the two teams had finished their preparations. Kairi went over the rules they had agreed on.

"..., no hard objects and no magic in any form!"

"As if our magic would help anyway," Ilana could hear Lea say to Akira, who chuckled and agreed with a nod.

"The game ends when one team gives up. Everybody ready?"

A collective shouts of YES! echoed through the backyard.

"Okay, then ready….GOO-ahhh!"

The moment Kairi gave the starting signal, she already had to hide behind their little wall from the snowballs of Akira. But the princess was quick and threw one of her own and hit Lea on the shoulder.

It quickly became apparent that Kairi was the one with the best aim in their team, scoring most hits on the two red heads. Chip barely scored anything, but that didn't damp down the enthusiasm of the boy and he had the time of his life.

Ilana herself had just one goal: Hit Akira at least once in the face. And she even managed it! But her friend wasn't so happy about that and now she was her primary target. To keep herself safe, Ilana sat down behind the snow wall besides Belle.

"I have to admit, you guys play this game with much more fervor than I'm used to," Belle said with a nervous laugh and dared to glance over the wall, just to quickly sit back again, when a snowball flew right above her head.

"Warned you, that playing a game with them is not for the faint-hearted," Ilana smiled, making it herself comfortable. No way she would get up now that she had Akira's wrath on her.

"Indeed. But at least they seem to have fun," Belle mused, looking at Chip and Kairi.

Ilana hummed in agreement.

Not only were Akira and Lea very much in the game, but also Kairi. It surprised her sometimes how ructious the princess could be. Was she always like that or did it come from the time she spent with the other two?

Ilana slapped Kairi's knee before she could finish the colorful sentence she had just started.

"Kairi, not in front of the kid!"

"Ups, sorry," she apologized, but was right back in the game when she was hit at her head.

With a sigh Ilana eased back. She bet that the cusses came from Lea.

* * *

"We give up, We give up!" Kairi shouted, half hiding behind the snow wall and waving her arms over her head.

The hail of snowballs stopped at that.

"You sure? We'd give you another fair chance if you want," Lea shouted back, casually leaning with his elbow on their own wall.

"No thanks," Kairi said loud enough, before she let herself drop to the ground with a sigh. "None of us wants to continue this madness," she mumbled only for Ilana, Bell and Chip.

"Says the one who highly contributed to it," Ilana chuckled and got a grin and shrug of shoulders from Kairi.

"It was so much fun! I hope we can do this again!" Chip said, grinning widely. Still it was obvious that the boy was tired, since Belle had to hold him in position, or he would have just slumped to the ground.

"This certainly was...an experience," Belle commented over the loud victory cheerings of Akira and Lea, while she wiped all the snow from Chip's head and shoulders.

"As much fun as this was, I have to admit I can't wait to get back inside. This whole snow thing can be really cold," Ilana admitted and rubbed over the sleeves of her jacket.

"Yeah, I just realize that now," Kairi agreed and mirrored the motion, her teeth jitterin now that the heath of the battle was over.

Belle laughed at the two girls freezing like that. "Well, then we better head back into the castle. I'm sure Mrs. Potts has prepared some tee for you to warm up."

"Ah, that sounds lovely," Ilana hummed.

She was about to get up and call, grabbing at her back and shaking herself, while Lea had to lean against the wall from how hard he laughed.

If Ilana had to guess, he had shoved some snow down her back. She shook in sympathy for her best friend.

When Akira gave up on getting rid of the snow in her clothes, she turned around to glare at him.

"Lea, you goddamn-!"

Quickly Ilana covered Chip's ears.

Why does everyone have to curse?

Before Lea could react, Akira was tackling him to the ground, pressing his head into a pile of snow. He struggled a lot and was then able to throw her off his back, just so that he could pin her on the ground and now tried to shove snow down her front. But she quickly kicked him against the side and started her counterattack.

The others watched them in their tussle.

"I don't know if this is cute or concerning," Ilana mused, making Kairi chuckle.

"Hard to tell, huh?"

Belle on the other hand was certainly concerned. "Shouldn't we try to stop them?"

"If you want to get caught in the cross-fire, by all means do so," Ilana snorted and the other woman nodded with a sigh.

"I assume this is normal for them?"

"Yeah, it's their way of showing that they like each other. They're weird that way," Ilana explained on the quiet, making now both Kairi and Belle chuckle.

But Chip was confused by this. "But Belle and Adam like each other too and I never see them play around like this."

"You know Chip, adults have different ways to show affections. Akira and Lea are both very silly and prefer to play and joke with each other, instead how Belle and Adam do it in a civilized manner," Ilana said in a rather exaggerating tone, making the other two laugh again. Chip on the other hand pondered about this answer.

"Anyway, let's finally get inside. They'll follow us when they've worn out each other," Kairi suggested, receiving agreeing hums.

* * *

Ilana and Kairi, draped in blankets, carried plates of tea and biscuits to the library, since Belle had suggested that they should warm up there at the fireplace, while she read one of her favorite books of them.

It was when they passed the entrance hall, that they spotted Akira and Lea entering the castle.

They were both wet from head to toe, their hair sticking to their heads and jittered awfully from the cold.

"Well? Finished fooling around you two?" Ilana asked them in a teasing tone, but it seemed they were too exhausted to catch on the ambiguousness of that question and just making confirming, grunting noises, while trying to get warm again.

"And? Who won?" Kairi looked from one to the other.

They stopped in their attempts to warm themselves up and looked ad each other with an unsure expression, before answering.

"I guess...the tree?" Lea's answer sounded more like a question, but Akira nodded.

"The...tree?" Ilana and Kairi were confused at this, so Akira started to explain.

"You see, while we were still in the middle of our little brawl-"

"Which I would have totally won," Lea muttered in-between.

"As if," she retorted and punched his upper-arm playfully. Before this turned into another tussle, she just continued to explain. "Anyway, we weren't paying attention to the things around and at some point we both crashed against a tree. Bunch of snow fell down and almost buried us."

"It was a really close call," he added with a not so happy face at the memory.

Ilana and Kairi sighed.

"We really can't leave you two troublemaker alone, can't we?" Ilana said in a slightly chiding tone, but still smiled at them.

Lea and Akira grinned at each other, before they looked back to the girls, sticking out their tongues.

"Apparently not," Akira answered her answer, making them both laugh.

"You two are so childish. Sometimes I can't believe you're actually older than me," Kairi said.

It was not intentionally from her, but with this simple statement a lot of the merry mood was drained out of the two before her.

"Have to catch up on things after all," Lea answered with a shrug and Akira nodded, both having a rather sober smile on their face.

Confused, but also worried, Kairi looked between them, before it dawned on her what the problem was. She was about to apologize, when Ilana spoke up.

"You two should get out of those wet clothes or you'll get sick. Mrs. Potts is in the kitchen, she will have blankets for you."

"Right, sounds like a good idea," Akira agreed, both seemingly to remember that they were freezing and with jittering teeth made their way to the kitchen.

"We will wait in the library for you," Ilana called after them. After giving Kairi a reassuring nod, the two girls went on their way.

* * *

The group had already settled in in front of the fireplace, with Belle sitting in a big, comfy chair and Ilana, Kairi and Chip cuddling together on a small couch, when Akira and Lea joined them.

Their clothes had been apparently so soaked, that they had to borrow pants from someone and wore only their shirts under their blankets.

While Lea claimed an armchair as his, Akira fetched the tea for them.

Ilana was a bit surprised that Akira sat besides Lea and huddled up to him with no protest, especially when he put his arm around her, even tho she could see that her friend's ears were red. Seemed like she was glad for any warmth she could get.

As soon as everybody at made it themselves comfortable and was provided with tea and snacks, Belle started to read the story for them.

* * *

It was about an hour later.

The exhaustion from their day spent outside, the warmth of the fire and the soft tone of Belle's voice made Ilana very drowsy. Kairi and Chip, who leant against each side of her, were already fast asleep. She would have dozed off too, if not for the fact that Belle suddenly stopped reading and chuckled, which got her attention.

She looked to the other woman, who pointed with a smile to the chair of Lea and Akira. When Ilana looked at them, she had to chuckle, too.

They were both also asleep and had gotten very cozy with each other.

Lea was simply slumped against the backrest, supporting his head with one arm leaning on the armrest and the other one still around her shoulders. He snored softly, something that didn't seem to bother Akira, even her head and one hand rested on his chest.

This was such a cute sight for the sore eyes! Ilana just had to take a picture of this, for various reasons.

While rummaging for her Gummiphone, Kairi besides her woke up and looked around confused. When Ilana pointed to the two sleeping in the armchair, it took Kairi only a few seconds to get what was going and also started to giggle.

Ilana was able to take a picture just in time, since apparently Lea wasn't that deep asleep. Or the giggling woke him up. His snoring died down and slowly opening his eyes, trying to blink away the sleep.

With big grins, Ilana and Kairi waved at him, when he looked over to them.

Still a bit sleepy, he raised one hand in a salute, but that made Akira stir. Seemingly sensing the missing arm on her shoulder, she grabbed it in her sleep and put it back to where it was before, signing contently.

While Lea looked puzzled at that, Ilana and Kairi had to hold themselves together not to giggle and gush too loud. Still Lea put his finger on his smiling lips to beckon them not to wake her up.

Ilana nodded and shushed Kairi when she got a bit too loud with her giggling, even tho she herself was still trying to get herself under control.

Belle watched all this with an amused expression.

After a few minutes the girls had calmed down and Belle had resumed to reading the book.

While listening to the story, Ilana glanced over to the armchair.

Akira had luckily not waked up from their tittering. The girl needed every bit of sleep she would allow herself.

What made Ilana gush internally was the way how Lea gently combed his fingers through her hair and the soft smile he had while looking down at Akira's sleeping form. She bet that the girl would have melted like a snowball in front of a fire, if she could've seen it.

It was so adorable to watch. But also so frustrating with how in love those two where with each other, but refused to talk with the other about it.

Ilana did her best to push them into the right directions, but one thing they had in common was their stubbornness.

Maybe a direct approach would be better?

Akira was a lost cause for that, so much she knew.

But maybe it would help if she had a word with Lea.

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.


	11. The Valentine's Deal

"Lea?"

The man was sitting on the couch, which his hands behind his head. He turned around, when he was approached.

"Yes?"

"What is this?" Akira held up the heart-shaped package with a raised eyebrow.

Lea couldn't help but smirk, while he put thumb and forefinger on his chin and acted like he had to think about the question.

"Hmm, it says chocolate. But you know, can't trust that they actually put in what they print on."

Letting out a frustrated sound, she waved the package threateningly in front of his nose.

"You know we had a deal, right? No Valentines gifts."

"I know, I know," he said, raising his hands in defense. "And that's why this is no Valentines gift."

Akira looked with a disbelieving frown at him.

"Have you actually looked at this?"

"Hey, not my fault that everything his heart-shaped currently," Lea shrugged his shoulders. He then tried to win this argument with leaning on the back rest of the couch and giving her his best charming smile. "It's your favorite, 'course I would get it for you when I see it. Only the best sweets for my sweetheart."

While she was blushing, Akira didn't let herself get distracted by his flirting.

"And you happened to stumble across it just like that? A chocolate type that they sell only every hundred years because it's such an unusual one?"

Being caught, Lea winced and his gaze went to the ceiling.

"Dumb luck I guess? Maybe they offer more varieties because of the holiday."

With a sigh and shaking her head, Akira went around the couch to sit besides him, looking him dead into the eyes.

"You are bad at lying and you know it."

From the flickers of his eyes she could see how was trying to come up with a good retort, but ultimately he let out a resigned sigh.

"Well, it was worth a try," he said, rubbing his neck and grinning sheepishly at her. It made her chuckle and she leant forward to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I appreciate it. The chocolate, not that you ignored our arrangement."

His face split into a smile and he returned the gesture, just that he stayed close to nuzzle his nose against her cheek afterwards.

"Ah, you know me. Can never let a chance slide to give what you deserve," he murmured.

Akira hummed at this, enjoying his attention for a moment.

"Well, in that case…"

Without giving him any warning, she grabbed him quick, but gentle at his collar, yanking him down. In the same heartbeat she put a pillow on her lap, in which his face landed with an _oomph_.

"Hey, what's that about?" he asked confused, but Akira just patted his head.

"You complained yesterday how hard work was for you. Guess today was the same?"

"Uhhh, yes? Valentine's Day is not only horror for flower and sweet shops, I can tell ya," he sighed exhausted and got more comfortable lying on his stomach.

She made an affirmative noise and started to play with some strands of his hair.

"Can imagine. And in light of today I thought it would be good if I make you relax a bit."

Lea turned his head so he could look up at her with one eye and a raised eyebrow.

"What has become of that Valentine's deal of yours?"

"You broke that already anyway," she said and then grinned impishly. "So I can't let this stand without giving you something in return, can I?"

He couldn't help but snort at this amused.

"Sometimes you can be so petty, you know?"

Akira huffed and stopped playing with his hair to give him a light slap on his head.

"If it's _so petty_ , then I won't need to do it, right?" she said with a smirk, knowing exactly how he would react. And just as she expected, he lifted his head quickly to give her a pleading look.

"Oh, c'mon Aki! You know I didn't mean it like that," he whined.

Very pleased with herself, Akira hummed and patted his head again.

"Then lay down and be lazy like you usually are," she said jokingly, causing him to slump down on the pillow with a grumble.

But that melted quickly into a deep and relaxed sigh, when Akira started to comb her fingers gently through his hair, scratching and massaging his skull.

"Just don't fall asleep on me like last time," she chuckled. His answers was a very satisfied hum.

"No promises."


	12. A Night Kiss

Lea was by no means a light sleeper.

Usually he would sleep soundly through the whole night and maybe half of the day, if someone wouldn't wake him up.

This night, however, something roused him out of his slumber.

At first, he just felt warm, feather-light touches along his face. It caused him to feel so relaxed, he almost fell asleep again. But then they stopped their caressing and instead lips were pressed against his in a sweet, but short kiss.

Far too short for his liking.

Before the lips could move too far away, he sluggishly pushed himself up and followed them with his own. When they meet again in a kiss, he hear a surprised, but muffled squeak that made him chuckle into the kiss.

"You kissed your sleeping Beauty awake," he said with an amused voice, after he parted again. His eyes slowly adjusted a bit to the darkness of the night and he could see Akira's profile sitting beside him.

"Dork," she muttered with a snort and shook her head.

He felt her hand touching his upper arm, her thumb gently stroking it.

"Sorry. I…didn't mean to wake you up."

"'s fine," he yawned. "Can imagine worse things to wake up to. Wonder how I get to that honor to this late hour, tho."

After shilly-shallying around for a moment, she just shrugged.

"Just…felt like it," she said in her usual sheepish manner, making him smile and nod with a hum.

"Very valid reason."

He wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer and nuzzled his nose into her hair. Immediately she snuggled against his side.

"Just do it whenever you feel like it again. Don't mind it at all." He kissed her forehead. "Very much the opposite actually."

While Akira didn't left his embrace, she leant back a bit to look at his face. At least he was sure she tried to. It was dark after all.

Before he could comment on that, her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips were against his again, catching him by surprise. But just a moment later, both his arms hugged her flat against him and answered her loving kisses with his own.

When they became more and more lazy with their kisses, Akira gently pushed him back and Lea let himself slowly fall back into the bed. He kept his arms around her when they parted and she made it herself comfortable on his chest.

They both sighed in contentment, while Lea started to gently stroke through Akira's hair.

"Just like a dream," he murmured, already getting sleepy again. Akira hummed in agreement.

"Yeah. I hope we will never wake up from it."


	13. A Sorry Kiss

When was the last time Akira had been so angry with him?

Lea couldn't really remember.

But he knew that usually fists would fly.

It was only thanks to his already bad shape and the presence of Roxas and Xion that Akira just glared at him.

The teenager looked between their two friends, worry clear on their faces.

"Please Akira. It really was not Lea's fault," Xion pleaded and Roxas nodded, putting his hand on his chest.

"She is right. If anybody is at fault, it's us!"

They stepped closer to Akira in their attempt to calm her down. But Lea noticed how she tensed up and raised his voice.

"Xion, Roxas. It's okay."

Confused they looked over to him. He gave them an reassuring smile.

"I can deal with this. You two better go now."

"Are you…sure?" Roxas asked and Lea just nodded.

Xion looked a last time between him and Akira, before she took her friend's hand.

"Let's leave them alone Roxas."

Stil a bit unsure about the situation, Roxas finally nodded and let Xion lead him out of the hospital room.

When Lea looked back at Akira, she had crossed her arms in a very defensive way and cast her eyes down.

How did he always get himself in those situations?

Roxas, Xion and him had been on such a simple mission off-world. Something they had done a dozen times by now. They had fought Heartless and local monsters, nothing out of the ordinary. Yet here he was, sitting in a hospital bed, his head, arms and chest bandaged and with the order not to get out of said bed for a week.

He tried to think of something to lighten up the mood or even better to apologize, when she suddenly broke the silence.

"You promised it."

It was barely more than a whisper, but the anger and hurt was clear.

Guilt tightened his throat and he couldn't get out the words he actually wanted to say, looking down ashamed.

"I know…,"

Silence fell over them again.

Saying Sorry sounded so shallow to him. For one he had said it way too often by now and for another…it wasn't the first time he broke this promise. So he didn't blame her a bit for being angry with him, despite his only intention had been to protect Roxas and Xion.

Quiet sobs caught his attention.

When he looked up he noticed just how tense Akira had become. She practically clawed her fingers into her upper arms and her shoulders were raised up to her ears. Her whole figure was shaking from her weak attempt to keep herself together.

This sight hurt him more than any pain he felt the moment he got up from the bed to walk over to her.

The moment he took her in an embrace, her tightly shut eyes opened and looked at him. They were filled with unshed tears.

"You could be dead now."

The anger from before was replaced with plain fear now.

"But I'm not," he said and hugged her closer, ignoring the protest from his body. "And…I really try not to. It's just…,"

"…You just want to keep them save," she finished for him, when Lea struggled to find a good explanation for his action.

"Yeah…"

While Akira didn't returned the hug, he could feel how she relaxed now in his arms, which relieved him. He gave her forehead a kiss.

"I'm…so sorry Aki," he finally got the words out. "The last thing I want is to make you worry or hurt you."

"I know that," she said after a moment and took in a deep, shaky breath. "And…it wasn't really fair from me to react like this. It's not like I would have done it any different. Sorry."

"Hey, you're the last one who needs to apologize," he tried to soothe her, gently cupping her face to make her look up at him again. Tears were now running down her face and he wiped them away with his thumbs.

"I'm just…so afraid," Akira sniffed "I don't know if I could bare it to loose you. Not again."

Lea sighed and gave her a sympathetically look.

He knew exactly how she felt. But he couldn't bring himself to repeat the promise, that nothing would happen to him. He didn't want to lie to her.

Leaning forward he tenderly pressed his lips against hers, trying to calm her down and to punctuate his next words.

"All I can do is to promise that I'll try to be more careful." He said after they parted and pressed his forehead against hers. "No guarantees. Just…that I try."

They stared in each others eyes for a moment, before Akira took in another breath.

"Fine...Knowing you…it should be more than enough."

Her arms finally found their way around his body. Despite her careful hug, it still caused him pain. But he kept quiet about it.

"It's frustrating...But I understand." She smiled at him, a sight that was very soothing for his heart. "We are both very reckless, so I shouldn't complain."

He chuckled at this.

"True. Maybe if you'd come with us, you could help me keep the kids save, while we also keep each other save?" he suggested with a slight grin.

Akira had to hiccup from the mix of lingering tears and laughter.

"You really don't give up on that, do you?"

"Never!" he now grinned widely. "It's just half the fun without you."

"Yeah, I see what fun that is," she chuckled. "Maybe we really should stick together as team. At least then there will be less casualties."

"See? Only advantages when you come along. And I'm sure you still can do your job here."

"We will see," she hummed and then took a step away from him, a slight frown on her face. "But for now, you go back to your bed. You shouldn't even be up in the first place."

"Can't just sit tight when my better half needs some good hugging," he said with a charming smile, but the exhausting became quickly clear on his face. "Tho I'm glad you point that out, because I think my legs are giving out any second."

Before he even finished his sentence, Akira let him lean on her and helped him getting back to the bed.

He listened to her scolding with a smile, just being glad she wasn't angry and sad anymore.


End file.
